Philippines: AF Payments Hits 3M Mark in Beep Card Sales

AF Payments Inc. said on Thursday it has sold 3 million beep cards mostly to Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) riders since it started operations in 2015.

The beep card is a reloadable contactless smart card with a stored value of up to P10,000, and can be used in LRT-1, LRT-2, MRT-3, selected bus lines, CAVITEX, and at Family Mart through the tap-to-pay system.

According to AF Payments, six out of 10 MRT and LRT riders use the beep card to pay for their train travel compared to single-journey tickets.

“Three million beep cards in circulation is a big milestone for us. It shows that Filipinos are getting used to this technology and are adapting it for their daily use,” Tere Ancheta, spokesperson of AF Payments, said in a statement.

“This pushes us to continue to do better and forge better partnerships that will truly help to serve the needs of our cardholders,” Ancheta added.

It said there was also a “healthy” level of load transaction numbers daily from its first retail partner, FamilyMart. Other reloading options include selected branches of Bayad Center, SM Bills Payment, Villarica, and Tambunting.

AF Payments Inc. is a consortium of the Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp. that provides contactless payment solutions in the Philippines.